Known jewelry closures may be hard to close, particularly for young, elderly and/or disabled users. Known magnetic closures are shown in Mizuno, U.S. Pat. No. 3,129,477, which discloses jewelry closures and in Budreck, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,041,697 and 3,111,736, which discloses magnetic keyring closures. Particularly when used for heavy or valuable jewelry, there may be a perceived lack of strength of the magnetic closure due to the absence of a safety closure in addition to the magnetic closure.
Other patents also describe jewelry closures. Geoffroy, U.S. Pat. No. 807,069, describes an automatic fastening device having a mechanically engaged clip. Keller, U.S. Pat. No. 1,807,293, describes a jewelry fastener having a hinged safety clip attached to a first closure member. When the second closure member is engaged within the first closure member, the hinged clip fastens through aligned apertures in intermediate positions of the first and second casing members. Forstner, U.S. Pat. No. 2,178,572, describes a sheet metal wrist watch closure in which a second member snaps into a first member and a pivoted member attached to the first member snaps over a roll on the second member.
Feibelman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,623,256, describes a magnetic jewelry connector alone, without a combined mechanical closure. Loofboro, U.S. Pat. No. 2,648,884, describes a magnetic jewelry clasp having mechanically interlocking shapes. The magnetic and mechanical engagement of the two halves are released at the same time. Feibelman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,654,929, describes a magnetic box-type closure for a bracelet. Raising the finger tab provided breaks the magnetic engagement. Robinson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,901,278, describes a magnetic latch assembly for closing a door. Fayling, U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,288, describes polymer-based magnets for forming magnetic fasteners. Geldwerth, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,809, describes a jewelry clasp having a jewel mechanical closure. The safety closure includes a wire member having a hook for releasably snapping over a pin having an enlarged head. Rivera, U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,305, describes an improved locking box clasp for jewelry in which a hinged member is inserted through a sidewall of the first closure member to which the clip is hinged, and is subsequently retained between two members of a locking box, preventing inadvertent compression of the locking box and thus preventing inadvertent removal of the clip member from the box.
None of these patents discloses or suggests the combination of a magnetic closure with a simple wire safety clasp in which the safety clasp must be opened before the two parts of the magnetic clasp can be separated.